Teacher commemorates the fallen with art

 

Thousands of children lost loved ones on the fateful day of Sept. 11, 2001, and thousands perished as planes collided with the towers in New York.

Fifteen years later, memorial services and the commemoration of the brave first-responders continue to carry the legacy into a new generation.

Frida Arellano, an elementary art teacher at Athlos Leadership Academy, created a piece of art bringing together the names of the lost and the silhouette of the once iconic Twin Towers. Arellano said the names of every victim were handwritten on the towers, and white birds were painted around them, signifying the many who jumped to their demise.

Students and staff helped with the project, and Arellano said it was difficult seeing victims with the same names as her family members as she wrote each name down.

The display was part of the school’s 9/11 remembrance ceremony, held Friday. The towers stool tall over the gym filled with students and the dancers paying tribute to the memory of that fateful day.